Register at the Mercantile Division of the Public Registry and pay Annual Franchise Tax

2 days

—

4

Obtain a notice of operation (“aviso de operación”) through the “Panama emprende” website

1 day

USD 55 for legal entities

5

Request an employers’ inscription number from the Social Security Administration

1 day

No charge

Getting Credit

DB 2015 Rank

17

DB 2014 Rank***

45

Change in Rank

28

DB 2015 DTF** (% points)

75.00

DB 2014 DTF** (% points)

60.00

Change in DTF** (% points)

15.00

Indicator

Panama

Latin America & Caribbean

OECD

Strength of legal rights index (0-12)

7

5

6

Depth of credit information index (0-8)

8

5

7

Credit registry coverage (% of adults)

0.0

12.6

12.1

Credit bureau coverage (% of adults)

63.0

39.3

67.0

Depth of credit information index (0-8)

Private credit bureau

Public credit registry

Score

Are data on both firms and individuals distributed?

Yes

No

1

Are both positive and negative credit data distributed?

Yes

No

1

Are data from retailers or utility companies – in addition to data from banks and financial institutions – distributed?

Yes

No

1

Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries that distribute more than 10 years of negative data or erase data on defaults as soon as they are repaid obtain a score of 0 for this component.)

Yes

No

1

Are data on loan amounts below 1% of income per capita distributed?

Yes

No

1

By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or credit registry?

Are bureau or registry credit scores offered as a value-added service to help banks and financial institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers?

Yes

No

1

Score (“yes” to either public bureau or private registry)

8

Strength of legal rights index (0-12)

Does an integrated or unified legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy?

No

Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without requiring a specific description of collateral?

Yes

Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring a specific description of collateral?

Yes

May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and may it extend automatically to the products, proceeds or replacements of the original assets?

No

Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and obligations be secured between parties; and can the collateral agreement include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered?

Yes

Is a collateral registry in operation for both incorporated and non-incorporated entities, that is unified geographically and by asset type, with an electronic database indexed by debtor’s name?

Yes

Does a notice-based collateral registry exist in which all functional equivalents can be registered?

No

Does a modern collateral registry exist in whichregistrations, amendments, cancellations and searches can be performed online by any interested third party?

No

Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency procedure?

Yes

Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is liquidated?

Yes

Are secured creditors subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised reorganization procedure? Does the law protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and/or sets a time limit for it?

No

Does the law allow parties to agree on out of court enforcement at the time a security interest is created? Does the law allow the secured creditor to sell the collateral through public auction and private tender, as well as, for the secured creditor to keepthe asset in satisfaction of the debt?

Yes

Score (number of “yes” responses)

7

Coverage

Private credit bureau

Public credit registry

Number of individuals

1,497,048

0

Number of firms

73,036

0

Total

1,570,084

0

Percentage of adult population

63.0

0.0

Registering Property

DB 2015 Rank

61

DB 2014 Rank***

66

Change in Rank

5

DB 2015 DTF** (% points)

74.65

DB 2014 DTF** (% points)

73.64

Change in DTF** (% points)

1.01

Indicator

Panama

Latin America & Caribbean

OECD

Procedures (number)

7.0

7.0

4.7

Time (days)

22.5

63.3

24.0

Cost (% of warehouse value)

2.4

6.1

4.2

No.

Procedure

Time to Complete

Associated Costs

1

Obtain a non-encumbrance certificate at the Public Registry Office

1-2 days (simultaneous with Procedures 2 & 3)

USD 30

2

Obtain a certificate of good standing online from the Autoridad Nacional de Ingresos Públicos

Less than a day (online procedure and simultaneous with procedure 1 and 3)

no cost online

3

Obtain a non-debt water certificate (“certificado de Paz y Salvo”)

1 day (simultaneous with Procedures 1 & 2)

USD 1.25

4

A lawyer prepares the sale agreement

2 days

USD 200 (lawyer’s fees)

5

Payment of the Transfer and Capital Gains Taxes

2 days

2% of property value (transfer tax) + 3% of property value (capital gains tax, not included in the cost calculation)

6

Notarization of the sale agreement and preparation of the public deed

2 days

USD 100

7

The public deed is filed and recorded at the Public Registry Office under the name of the buyer